Why do we serve? How can we keep our heart and focus on bettering the team/ministry? How can we practically get our eyes off ourselves and onto Jesus? What can we do when we feel like we’re at “the end” in our serving?

One of our worship leaders recently shared their story with our team – she spoke about overcoming personal struggles in order to better serve the team, the ministry, and God.

We chose to leave this story without a name, as you might be able to relate and make this your own story!

We’re all on this journey, and we pray that this would encourage you or someone you know; that it would revitalise hearts to ministry and serving Him.

Getting on the Platform vs Serving the Platform

I moved to Australia right out of high school when I was 18 years old, because that’s what you do when you’re American — you move out of home and go straight to college. So of course I chose Australia, to study how to become a worship pastor. I grew up in a Christian home and served in my home church on the worship team my whole life, but to be honest, I never fully understood what it meant.

So, I came to Hillsong College and did what I did — hung out with friends, went to college when I wanted, went to Team Nights; but wasn’t really involved. I was complacent and lazy, and soon after my complacency grew into competing against others, jealousy, and anger towards God cause I felt the things He promised me weren’t coming true. All of this was a culmination of not fully understanding what it meant to serve in a team and ultimately, what it meant to serve God. This battle went on for years — I’m not the smartest, so it takes me a while to “wake up”.

One day I remember being so over the hurt, the pain, the dreams that I never thought were going to come true, and I finally remember just “letting go” and truly immersing myself in His presence; letting Him show me who He was, how to love the way He loves, how to serve the way He serves. To be honest, that is when everything changed for me. My heart softened and my attitude towards “team”, “serving”, and everything became different. I was no longer striving to get onto the platform, but rather how to serve the platform in the best way I could. I wanted to support my church family — whether that looked like making coffees, sorting out lyrics to a new song, refurbishing the studio, or worship leading.

Now, I have truly come to love what we do as a team and that every week we get to show what God has done through us individually as well as corporately, offering a glimmer of hope to the people who are in desperation and need more of Him. My mom used to say this was my scripture — like I’m sure every parent has — Jeremiah 1:5-10:

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

before you were born I set you apart;

I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

“Alas, Sovereign LORD,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”

But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the LORD.

Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.” (The Message)

Every day when I wake up, I now declare that scripture over my life instead of rolling my eyes like I used to. Our mission as a team is to storm heaven for others and to show the love of our beautiful, merciful, intimate Father — and there are no people I’d rather do that with than everyone here. If you put God at the centre — the jealousy, the competition, the attitudes, the dreams that you feel will never come true — will all disappear, and you will truly see serving the way it should be seen: as an act of love.